The Shadow Of The Front Line
by Pennish
Summary: Private Sam Vincent isn't like all the other men in the unit, and soon everyone else will find that out too. R&R!
1. The Beach

Captain John Miller stood with his fellow comrades over the remains of, what was, the Omaha beachhead assault. The ocean washed up waves of scarlet, the beach's once golden sand was painted with blood, the only remnants of its true colour was in patches where the bodies of Europe's soldiers had been removed to be buried nearby. The wire fences held helmets, bits of bloody clothing and bodies where someone had been unfortunate to crawl through.

Miller drew a breath, and released. Involuntarily, his hand started to shake; he looked down, clenching it, forcing it to retreat to minor tremors.

"Miller!" The Captain jumped, spinning round to come face to face with Lieutenant Colonel Anderson. "I have a task that needs your immediate attention."

"Yes sir!" Miller shouted, running to the tent where the Colonel was waiting for him.

"Now, I've just received word that there is a Private of Baker company, five hundred and sixth Parachute Infantry Regiment called James Francis Ryan." The Colonel sighed. "This Private is very… special, so to speak."

"And why is that Sir?" Miller asked inquisitively.

The Colonel leaned on the desk in front of them. "Captain, do you have any brothers?"

Miller's face screwed up in confusion. "Me? No, none. I'm an only…"

"Well this Private, Captain, had three." The Colonel cut him off. He drew a breath, then walked round the table, picking up a compass, he leant on the table and tapped the compass against his chin. "Well Miller, the truth is this Private, has a golden ticket out of here, and back home."

The Captain tilted his head. "I don't understand." He muttered.

"Emphasis on had three brothers, Miller. They've all died in action. Which brings me to why I've asked you here." Anderson strode up to Miller, his face hard. "I've chosen you to be the commanding officer of the team that goes and get's the lad."

Miller's face fell. "But sir, our duties are here. To protect the country we love and serve. To fight this war. Why do we have to give that up for just some…"

"That's enough Captain." Anderson stopped him. "This is what the Secretary of Defence has ordered. I chose you because you are skilled enough to get the job done successfully. This Private has just lost his three brothers."

Miller's face softened, he felt sympathy James Ryan. After all, if he lost his family, he'd want to go home, home to his wife… "How many men do I get?"

Anderson smiled and clapped his hands together, before striding over to the corner of the pavilion, where the translators were typing furiously. "A technical sergeant and five men of your choice."

"But Colonel don't squads normally have nine soldiers?"

"Yes, they do Miller. Upham, front and centre." Anderson waited as a scrawny translator ran in front of the commanding officers.

"Yes sir?" He squeaked.

"You will be assisting Captain Miller on his new mission to bring home Private James Francis Ryan. Pack up, ready to leave in two minutes."

A look of shock swept through Upham's features. "Um… Yes… Yes sir." He sprinted around the massive tent, gathering his equipment as well as his belongings and followed the two officers out into the base.

Miller laughed at Upham falling about everywhere, he had even tried to bring a type-writer, but had dropped it when he realised it couldn't fit in his bag. Miller strode with Anderson, glancing back to chuckle at Upham. His brow fixed together. "Sir, this is the 8th soldier…"

Anderson jerked his head, quickly with one swift nod. "I said you can choose five men, but I've already chosen the last man for your mission."

They stopped in front of where the soldiers were resting. Private Richard Reiben had his back to them, describing a dirty joke to the men.

"…And so the lady was like 'really? Why don't you just check…"

"Reiben!" Anderson shouted.

Reiben jumped, spinning round to see the two officers glaring at him. He sat down, while a wave of laughs swept through the soldiers, Private Adrian Caparzo and Private Stanley Mellish elbowed Reiben.

"Now, Privates Caparzo, Mellish, Jackson, Technical Sergeant Horvath and Technician Wade, front and centre. We have a mission." Miller shouted, immediately each man strode in front of the Captain, lined up and stared at him. "Follow me." Miller said.

Miller began walking towards the front of the ammunition pavilion. He waited until they were all there, including Upham, before briefing them. He told them of their mission, and waited for a response.

Reiben was the first to speak. "So we have to stop relaxing to find some punk who could be anywhere?"

An uneasy mumbling erupted from the soldiers, talking amongst themselves, throwing their hand up in big gestures, anger stung on their faces.

"Sir, I have an opinion on this matter, this mission is a serious miss-allocation of valuable military resources, sir. God gave me a gift, I'm a valuable instrument of warfare. If you were to put me and this here rifle in a mile or two away from A-dolf Hitler sir, pack your bags gentlemen, wars over."

"That's brilliant, bumpkin." Reiben snided, sighing dramatically.

Miller held his hands up, "Look, I know you all would like to stay here. But you've got to sympathize with him. This kid's lost his family. You can stay here, and be shamed. Or, you can come with me. For one, the quicker I do this, the quicker I can go home to my wife." Miller glanced around at the soldiers. "So, what's it going to be?"

Silence filled the air as the soldiers took in the Captain's words. They looked at one another, then finally, all looked at Miller expectantly.

"So, when are we going to leave?" Caparzo asked.

"Well, we will be leaving in about half…" Miller glimpsed at his new troops, counting them using his fingers. "Hang on." He said. "We've still got one soldier missing."

Anderson piped up, walking towards them. "And here he is." A short man, with a thick helmet on, looking at the floor, walked behind Anderson. "This is your new team member, Private Sam Vincent."


	2. The Newbie

Anderson strode up to Miller's unit, inspecting each of the manly soldiers, throwing weary glances at Reiben, before turning to look at Miller. Nodding towards the new Private he said. "This is your final troop. I'll tell you some facts. Private Sam Vincent, originated from New Jersey. He's smaller than everyone else, but what he lacks he makes up in talent. That kid's got talent. I can assure you of that." Anderson looked down at the five foot seven Private. "He's a little… shy, but when you've been round him long enough, you'll soon warm up to him." Anderson walked away from them, before turning back "Mind, he's a sneaky one that Vincent is." The Colonel winked before walking away.

"What is that." Reiben whispered, cocking one eyebrow.

Sniggers exploded through the soldiers, Mellish slapped Caparzo on the back, Horvath stifling a giggle, Upham even released a laugh.

Miller fought back a smile. "Enough! Vincent fall in."

Vincent nodded, then stood next to Upham, head still down, obscuring the view of his face. Miller eyed him curiously, as did the other soldiers.

"Ok, suit up, get your ammo, we'll be leaving in a half hour. Go." Miller watched as one by one, they fell out, Reiben sighed, lighting a cigar, but Miller held his hand up to stop Vincent, who turned to him. "I see you're already packed, so you'll stay and choose an extra set of weapons."

Miller and Vincent walked to the ammo tent in silence; they gazed at all of the artillery lying on cold wooden tables. "You know, I've heard of you Vincent." He heard Vincent's sharp intake of breath. "The Colonels talk about you. Says you're a dark horse, you joined a couple of months ago, but already you've shown potential. That doesn't happen often." Miller began to load a sniper rifle. "They also say that you have an amazing shot, so, why don't you show me how amazing you are." Miller picked up the loaded sniper rifle and threw it to Vincent, who caught in with one hand.

Vincent looked at the sniper rifle reluctantly, then behind him at the thousands of relaxed soldiers, eating and drinking happily.

Vincent spun round, dragging the rifle up and in position. Miller stood by Vincent, watching curiously, after a couple of minutes of silence. Miller started to doubt, placing his hands on his hips, he opened his mouth to speak.

Then a shot fired, causing the Captain to jump, Miller saw a chocolate bar fly out of a soldier's hand a mile away, he was in the middle of a crowded camp, the soldier was even moving, but was completely unhurt. Miller's jaw dropped, he watched as the man picked up his chocolate and pull out a bullet, the twenty soldiers around him grabbed their guns and looked around, the soldier turned round to look towards the ammo tent, pouting slightly, at Miller and Vincent. Miller saw Anderson look up from his map, and folded his arm, a smile playing on his lips, he was smug.

"Took your time. But looks like I'm in luck. Now I know we have a chance of winning. You truly are amazing." Miller marched towards the tables and began to load his own gun, as well as others.

"Thanks." A husky, shaky voice said, causing Miller to jump and glance at Vincent.

Miller gasped at Vincent's feminine face. His eyes were a big and round, the iris was deep blue. His lips were pale pink, and full. His skin was beautifully clear, that glowed in a warm way. His eyebrows were neatly arranged, like smooth, clear lines imprinted on a dainty face. Vincent's eyes widened and he ducked down; when he re-emerged his face was covered in mud, hiding his features.

Miller shook his head. "Why did you put mud on your face?"

Vincent shrugged, before striding over to the tables and grabbing an array of grenades and guns.

Voices began to drift towards the tent, causing Vincent to sigh and close his eyes. Miller strode outside, watching as, one by one, his troops fell in, heaving their rucksacks alongside with them. Their webbing was secured tightly around their waists, their helmets hung loosely on their heads. They formed up into a line and stared at Miller, Vincent fell in silently.

"What the fuck have you been doing?" Reiben glanced down at Vincent, a lit cigarette held loosely between his fingers, Reiben half-smiled, half- frowned. Miller rolled his eyes and glared at the Brooklyn boy.

Vincent stood still, staring at the floor. Jackson, who was stood next to him, peered down, twisting his body, trying to catch a glimpse of his face.

"Now I look like you." Vincent looked up, watching everyone's eyes meet his, and gazing at them. He only looked at Reiben; his face hard.

Reiben's jaw hardened, he finished his cigar and blew his last puff of smoke in Vincent's face, causing him to cough and splutter.

Mellish took a swig from his canteen, wiped the excess water on the back of his sleeve and grinned, looking at Caparzo. "That's more like it."

Reiben scoffed, "I'm too gorgeous for this anyway." Vincent scowled, stepping forward, only to be stopped by Wade, who pulled him back in line.

Vincent looked up at the medic, who looked down at him. "I wouldn't." He whispered, nodding towards Miller.

"If you're done, Ladies. We're going, follow my lead, get into diamond formation." Miller began to lead the troops out of the base. Vincent got into the left flank, right in the middle, while Wade was in front and Jackson was behind. They marched past Anderson's pavilion; the Colonel himself was gazing at them, nodding to Miller. Then at Vincent, a small smile on his lips.

Vincent sighed shakily and looked at Reiben, who was at the front frowning. Wade glanced behind him, and smiled at Vincent, who returned the gesture.

"This Private better be worth this." Reiben muttered, before marching out into the open fields of France.


	3. The Rebel

It was two hours before anyone spoke.

Upham stuttered, whilst finding the right words. "So, where are you from?" Upham strolled in between Mellish and Caparzo, trying to start conversation.

Caparzo turned to Mellish and laughed, gesturing to Upham, he spoke. "What the hell's this guy doing?" He turned back to Upham. "Get back in the formation Upchuck."

Upham retreated hastily back to his position, trying to hide his embarrassment, which was shown by his cheeks burning bright red.

Voices swept through the squad, everyone deep in conversation, except Vincent, who was silent.

Wade fixed his eyes on Vincent, slowed down, until he was walking alongside the Private. "You haven't spoken for ages. So, I'll be the Good Samaritan and talk first." Vincent smiled. "I'm Irwin Wade, but just call me Wade. I'm from Wisconsin. Now your turn."

"Wade, stop pestering the newbie, it's creepy." Reiben smiled, a few sniggers sounded.

"Shut up Reiben." Vincent snapped. Reiben's face fell, lips pouting. "Well, I'm Sama… Sam Vincent." Vincent shook his head. "I'm from New Jersey." Vincent smiled, showing his pearly white teeth.

"We'll stop here. Take a swig from your canteen, eat something. You need to keep up your energy. We leave in 5 minutes. Someone needs to go on patrol, any volunteers." Miller stopped, turning to look at his squad. He glanced around.

"I'll do it." Vincent piped up, lifting his gun; he began scouring the perimeter of the resting area.

When the Private was out of earshot, Reiben turned to his comrades. "What do you make of him?" Throwing his head back in the direction of the disappearing Private.

"I think there is more to him than meets the eye." Caparzo said, sipping from his canteen.

"Talking about eyes, have you seen his?" Mellish exclaimed.

"They're so… blue." Upham commented.

Everyone turned to look at him, Reiben rubbed his temples. "Really? I don't really tend to look into another man's eyes Upchuck. You got something to tell us?" The guys laughed, Caparzo pushing Upham lightly.

"He don't speak much… does he?" Jackson whispered.

The men nodded in agreement.

"His voice is pretty scary as well." Reiben said, making a face.

"Too manly for you, Reebs?" Caparzo chuckled, flexing his arms.

"He's way to girly for my liking." Horvath piped up.

"How?" Upham asked, causing the others to groan and roll their eyes at the translator.

"He's **slim**." Reiben said, chewing on the bread Miller had given him.

Upham shrugged. Mellish rolled his eyes and moved his hands in big gestures. "There's scrawny, you. Refined, Reiben. And God, Caprazo. And he is neither."

Upham chewed his bottom lip. "Maybe he was born into a feminine family?"

The squad roared with laughter, each slapping Upham on the back roughly, which caused him to face-plant the floor in front of him. It took a few minutes for the laughter to die down.

Mellish took a swig from his canteen. "Speaking of the devil, where is he?"

Horvath glared at the team, then threw his head back, towards the open field. "Vincent? Anything to report?"

The silence that followed sent chills down Miller's spine. There was no sound, no birds, no trees rustling, no leaves crunching, no guns and no voice. "Vincent?" Miller shouted. He shot up, glancing around.

The rest of the soldiers stopped eating and grabbed their guns. Upham shook his head. "What's going on?"

"Ssh." Miller whispered, he motioned for everyone to get on the ground. He began to crawl through the long grass, the others followed his motion. They came to a long, stone path, which had fresh tyre tread marks printed across it.

Reiben stood up, sprinting to the path; he placed his hand on the ground and inspected the marks. Jackson, Caparzo and Horvath ran over beside him. Jackson drew a deep breath.

"Tiger tank."

Miller moaned, placing his head in his hands. "What does that mean?" Upham muttered.

Mellish glared at him. "It means they want to come and hug us and have our babies. What do you think it means dumb-ass?"

"It looks like it didn't go very far." Caparzo shouted, running down the road to burning wreckage. Through the flames, they could make up the outline of a tank.

Miller checked the perimeter before inspecting the rubble.

"Looks like something was thrown at it." Jackson stated, pointing to an impact mark. "Looks like a Mills grenade or a Hawkins grenade…" Miller smiled. He remembered Vincent picking up the anti- tank grenade when they were selecting weapons.

"Identify yourself!" Mellish shouted, aiming his gun at the figure walking down the road towards them.

Everyone turned in the direction of Mellish, and the person walking towards them. Reiben, Caparzo and Horvath raised their weapons. The smoke coming from the tank was heavily obscuring their view, which worried Miller immensely, plus the fact that the man had not listened and has continued to walk towards them with no fear.

Reiben's grip tightened on his gun, his finger holding the trigger. His fingers slowly began to close when the man stopped and shouted.

"Thunder."

"Flash." Miller smiled. He motioned for his squad to lower their weapons. "It's one of ours."

Through the smoke, came Vincent, his forehead sheeted with sweat. He smiled and held his hands up. "Hey, it's me."

Mellish and Caparzo ran over and patted Vincent on the back, Mellish giggled excitedly. "You chump." Sam smiled widely.

"Wade? Check over Vincent." Miller said between gritted teeth.

Wade's head appeared from behind the tank, he ran towards Vincent, inspecting his frame, Vincent tried to push his hand away, pulling himself away from Wade completely.

Miller strode over to Vincent, anger playing across his features. "What the hell was that about Vincent? You were only gone for five minutes." Miller tapped his foot impatiently whilst Vincent found the right words.

"I started patrolling, then I heard something… loud. I thought it would be too dangerous for me to shout to you because it would attract attention and give away my position. So I followed the tank and threw the Hawkins grenade that I got from the ammo tent. It struck, and blew up, but it didn't work, I only attracted it. The tank turned around, and as Krauts started coming out of the tank, I threw another grenade in it. I'm surprised you didn't hear anything, actually." Vincent grimaced as Miller's eyebrows came together.

"Then why were you half way up the road?"

"Well… some soldiers managed to climb out." Vincent stared innocently at the Captain. "Three troops came up to me and began to drag me away, there was a scuffle, I killed them, end of." Miller's face softened. Mellish hit Caparzo excitedly on the shoulder.

"Can't believe I missed it." Mellish grinned.

"Ok, Wade."

Wade began to lead the Private away from the others, into the safety of the forest behind the tank.

Vincent sat down on an old tree stump, wincing as he pulled his rucksack off. Wade took his med-kit out of his webbing, placing the bandages and antiseptic on the ground beside him. Wade glanced at Vincent, searching through the minor wounds he had suffered.

Wade put some antiseptic on a cloth and began to clean the Private's face, which only had two small, shallow cuts.

"You need to take you shirt off, and your helmet." Wade instructed, and was surprised to see Vincent's eyes widen and fear glide across his features. "Don't worry, I'm no fruit loop. I'm a medic, you have to trust me." Wade laughed, but Vincent still refused to do as Wade ordered. "Seriously, if you don't take your kit off, I will for you."

Vincent moved to get up, but Wade pushed him down. Wade held him down as he unclipped his webbing, which slid off from the Private's shoulders.

Wade reached for Vincent's field jacket, but his face was met with a fist, Vincent's to be precise. Wade's body flew backward, his head hit the ground, he moaned as his head began to thrum with pain. Vincent started to run away from the medic, but Wade grabbed the Private's foot, which caused him to fall, his body landed hard on the ground. His helmet flew a couple of feet away.

Wade crawled over to the fallen soldier and sat on his stomach. Wade's eyes widened with realisation, as he stared at the angered Private. "Oh my god."


	4. The Revelation

Wade sat on Vincent's slim stomach, staring down at him. "You're a she?" He shrieked.

Vincent lifted her head up, revealing dark chocolate brown hair that brushed her shoulders. Her dark blue eyes wrinkled as she scowled; her skin was effortlessly clear. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked up at him, her eyes watery, she winced as pain shot through her shoulder.

Wade sensed her discomfort and bent down to help. At that moment, Sam shifted her legs, so that she pushed his legs apart, making his limbs sprawl out and collapse awkwardly, and pushed him to the floor. She climbed on top of him and glared down at the astounded medic.

"Now you listen here. I have worked too hard for some... **man** to spoil my cover." Her breath was heavy, and her face was hard. Wade was shocked by how soft her voice seemed, which was a far cry from her usual husky manor. "I am not like most women Wade."

Wade chuckled lightly, Sam became enraged, her eyes widened. She raised her fists and beat them down upon the medic. Wade muttered something quietly as he grabbed Sam's wrists, refraining her from hurting him again.

"Let... go... of... me!" Sam hissed, her arms suddenly restrained by the medic's strong hands. After a couple of minutes of useless moving, Sam gave up, sighing before putting her head on Wade's chest.

Wade blushed, looking at the **girl** whining on his chest, a small smile spread across his face. "You know, I haven't been this close to a girl since I was with my girlfriend."

Sam's head shot up, her cheeks flaring pink, she climbed off of Wade and took a few steps back, looking to the distance with a sheepish look spreading across her face.

Wade threw his head back laughing. To which Sam averted her gaze back to him. "What?" She spat.

"You... are... such a... girl!" The medic laughed, Vincent smiled. Wade sighed, shaking his head, he started making an effort to stand, when a hand was held out before him, he looked up to see Vincent standing in front of him expectantly. Wade grabbed her hand, feeling how smooth it felt, before pulling himself up. Vincent's eyes squinted as pain crept over her shoulder. She didn't want to show it so she sighed shakily, gazing at the medic's frame. He was going through his med kit, examining the different types of equipment he had.

Sam crossed her left arm over her right elbow, she started to lean over Wade, trying to peak over his shoulder. His shoulder was obscuring her view, so she tried to manoeuvre herself without seeming rude. Suddenly Wade shot up, knocking Sam off balance. He grabbed her shoulders before she fell; he looked at her, his eyes confused.

The closeness between them was awkward to Vincent, his breath was hot on her face, his eyes bore into her skull. He was an alright man… She shook her head before attempting to move back, but Wade still had a hold of her.

She coughed awkwardly, bringing Wade to his senses, he let go of her. Mumbling an apology, he looked down at her shoulder, a hint of blood seeping through her field jacket.

"Here, let me look at that." Wade took a step towards Sam, and peeled her field jacket from her shoulder. A small wound puckered as Wade exposed it to the air. Wade squinted in concentration, starting to feel around the wound, Vincent moaning, before she pulled back from his touch. He looked up at her, pain was evident in her features. "Oh, sorry, I'll move faster." He quickly set about cleaning the wound, and dressing it with paper stitches and a bandage. After he was satisfied he was done, Wade sighed, ruffling his hands through his short hair.

"Thanks." She said, pulling her field jacket on. Wade nodded, not looking up.

"What made you join the army Sam?" He whispered. "I mean, no other girl I know would want to."

Sam strode to the opening of the forest and grabbed her fallen helmet, twisting her hair; she pulled on her helmet, hiding her long locks. She glanced over her shoulder at Wade and whispered "I'm not like most girls Wade." Before heading out into the clearing.

After about three steps, however, a shot fired in the not too distant background. Shouts, American and German, could be heard.

Miller's squad looked round towards the forest, in the directions of where the sounds were coming from. Miller stared into the clearing at two of his soldiers, Wade was fumbling around his med-kit quickly, whilst Vincent had frozen, staring behind her, she turned towards the Sergeant, a gleam in her eye.

"Vincent, don't you dare!" Miller yelled at her, but it was too late, she sprinted into the forest, lightly pushing the medic out of the way. "Vincent!" The angered Captain shouted, motioning for the squad to head into the forest. Everyone pulled on their gear and sprinted into the dark forest. Upon entering, Miller looked to realise that Vincent has forgotten her kit. He cursed loudly, grabbing it while running.

Wade was the first one to chase after Sam, seen as she sprinted straight past him, knocking him off guard.

A little in front of him, he heard loud gun shots and moaning. "Sam!" Wade shouted, entering the field he watched Sam pushed a German in the chest, bringing her knee up to another's face. She fought clumsily, until a large German elbowed her shoulder, sending a scream to the sky as she winced in pain. The German was about to take out his revenge when a shot fired, and he fell, dead. Vincent's face fell as she looked past Wade and to Reiben, who was holding his smoking gun. She looked at the ground, beginning to walk towards the squad, when three Germans rose from the ground, bloodied from the beating they received earlier.

Jackson reacted instinctively, pulling his gun in front of him and shooting the three before they did any real damage. Sam dropped, spinning round to see the three men crumple to the floor. She stood up and smiled, wiping her forehead exaggeratingly. She turned to see Miller stride towards her menacingly, her face paled, as Miller stood right up to the private, face hard with rage.

"What were you thinking Private?" He yelled at her, sending spittle across her face. "You put yours and your squad's lives in danger! You are reckless and dangerous. Do not do anything like that again!" Vincent's shoulders tensed instinctively, she looked at the ground, she opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"We're pretty happy he did actually." Miller spun to see two American soldiers, bruised and bloodied. "Two other soldiers died here, Sir." Miller's face softened.

"Where you guys heading?"

"Neuville sir." The smaller one replied.

Mellish and Caprazo groaned loudly. "Perfect." They shouted in unison.

"Excellent." Miller smiled. "So are we. Lead the way boys."

The two soldiers nodded and began walking away from the forest. Miller glanced back at Vincent and glared at her, before following the two soldiers in the direction of the French village.


	5. The Annoyance

Miller had been talking about military manoeuvres with the squad, talking to them in a serious tone, whilst marching towards the small village of Neuville. The soldiers were still in diamond formation, with the two new American soldiers just behind Captain Miller. Reiben, Jackson, Caparzo and Mellish were in the middle, throwing glances at each other whilst talking about their 'experiences'.

Behind them, Vincent was avoiding everyone's gaze, choosing to look at the floor instead. Wade was trying hard to get her attention, straining his neck to look at her face, whereas Upham was between Reiben and Mellish, trying to listen in to the conversation between the 'manly' men, turning away when their descriptions got too graphic.

Three hours after the confrontation with the Germans, Miller stopped the squad for a break. Finding a small, nearby hill to rest on, he sat down with Horvath, taking out a map he began to plan a route for where they were going next. The rest of the group slumped against the ground, heaving their heavy bags along with them. They began to eat little lumps of bread, and drank the water from their canteens.

Miller looked round the area quickly, establishing that they needed a patrol. "Anyone want to volunteer to patrol?" Miller called down to the resting men. Vincent looked up hopefully, placing a small hand on her rifle. "I don't think so." Miller said.

"I'll... stay here, and guard the… trees." Upham stuttered, causing the rest of the men to roll their eyes.

Miller sighed loudly, then stared at all the other's faces he noticed Mellish ducking his head down, smiling to himself he scratched his face. "Mellish, thanks for volunteering."

Mellish sighed, muttering curse words to himself and lazily dragging his gun to his side. "Yes Capt'n." Wandering around the small hill, he started to watch out for any sign of danger.

Reiben and Caparzo sat together, quietly laughing to each other. Jackson was picking something out from between his teeth, whilst talking to Wade and Upham. The two conversations were merged into one; soon the silent chatter was now an informal discussion. Before too long, Reiben moved the subject onto women, everyone sighed and turned their heads.

Jackson's eyes landed on Sam's quiet form, resting against the edge of the small, grassy hill. Her helmet was pulled over her face and her arms were crossed on her slim stomach. Jackson smiled, motioning to the others to look at their sleeping comrade.

Jackson got up and quietly walked over to the snoozing soldier, standing in front of her; he crouched on his knees and started to lean in towards her. He stopped a few inches away from her face, looking from her closed eyes to her full lips, he licked his own, he admired her peachy skin, before shaking his head. He noticed a long strand of hair poking out from her helmet and began reaching for it. "Sam? You..."

Sam's eyes flew open, yelping, she jumped up involuntarily. But Jackson was too close to her, and her helmet collided with his face, sending him flying to the ground, clutching his head. Vincent's mouth hung open, before her hands flew to her mouth, she crouched down and whined. "I'm so sorry Jackson are you ok?" She looked at the swollen cut on his forehead; blood was seeping out of the small incision.

The rest of the group sat looking at the two in disbelief, until Reiben started laughing, causing Caparzo to start laughing. Wade hurried over to where Jackson was sat, and began to clean and dress the wound. Sam stood over Jackson, worry crossing her features. Miller sighed loudly, holding his head in one of his muddy hands.

"I'm really sorry." Sam said softly, allowing herself to speak normally. Jackson looked up at her and frowned, confused. Sam's eyes widened and she coughed, "You... uh... caught me by surprise." Her voice suddenly low and rough.

Jackson rubbed the newly formed bump of his head, "its fine." He grumbled, standing up slowly.

Mellish ran round the hill, drenched in sweat. "What did I miss? I heard shouting." He held his gun up in the ready position. Dropping it when he spotted Reiben and Caparzo laughing behind him. "What?"

"Nothing much actually, we're sat in the middle of a goddamn War zone, sweating our asses off for one 'James Ryan'." Reiben glanced up at Mellish, gesturing to the open fields in front of him. Mellish glared at Reiben, looking from Jackson to Sam.

"Hey Reiben? Go fuck yourself." Sam said angrily, a fierce frown on her delicate features. Reiben stopped and put his fingers to his ear, then he stood up.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself Sweetheart?" Reiben strode towards the shaking Private. He leaned towards Sam, his face inches away from her own.

Sam stumbled a bit, gazing at his masculine face, his hazel eyes bore into her. She stuttered her words, her view lingering to his lips. He looked at her sarcastically, hands on his hips. She was about to reply when Miller's voice piped up.

"Let's get moving. Back in formation." He shouted, eyeing Reiben and Vincent worryingly.

"Remember what you came here to do, eh?" He whispered harshly, turning and striding away.

Sam clutched her helmet tightly, before adjusting her hair, so that it was securely inside. Her pack appeared in front of her, Wade holding the straps. "Thanks." She mumbled.

Wade shook his head, rubbing his temples before staring at Sam's face. "You know, I have never, in my life, known a girl to get into so much trouble. And get into fights, with men five inches taller than you!" He started walking to the back of the diamond formation, where Sam was now marching.

Vincent shrugged, smiling to herself. "I don't know if that's an insult or a compliment." Her voice broke slightly, though her face remained composed.

Wade smiled broadly, patting Sam lightly on the back. "Trust me, it's a compliment."

For the next two hours, Wade and Sam talked non-stop. Mainly about the army, how they got into it, the perks. Wade told Sam of his family, where he grew up, and his fondest childhood memory. Sam was a little guarded, choosing to listen, not talk.

The sky began to darken, causing the trees to cast shadows on the group. Jackson sighed exaggeratingly. "Cap'n, we gonna stop somewhere?"

Miller stopped the squad, glancing around the surroundings quickly, he bit his bottom lip. Nothing predominant came into view, anywhere that provided them with shade without being too out in the open. "Into the tree line." His hand tightened around the hilt of his gun as he ran towards a small dip in the edge of the large forest.

The others followed appreciatively, pushing their feet into the ground as they ran towards the waiting Miller. Immediately, the whole group sat down, Jackson and Caparzo led on their stomachs, pointing their guns towards the large open fields they had just come from. Sam was on her knees, silently looking around their surroundings, Wade was beside her, keeping an eye on the rest of the team.

"So, we are roughly fifteen miles from Neuville, so we can take it slower tomorrow. But we need to figure out which route to take." Miller glanced at the two injured Americans.

One had deep blonde hair and light blue eyes, and was extremely handsome, he was taller than most of the group, except Reiben, Sam kept on staring at his face, seeing familiar features, recognising some of his facial expressions. The other had light brown hair, and light green eyes, he was shorter than the blonde soldier, but was much more muscular than most of the group, he watched everyone carefully, making Sam uncomfortable. The blonde man cleared his throat, "I'm Poole, and this is Yenick." Poole nodded at everyone quickly, stopping for a moment on Sam, staring at her face before glancing back down at the map in front of him. The conversation soon drifted into manoeuvres, and the men got involved.

Vincent sighed quietly, twisting her neck round to see behind her, after a quick glance around the surrounding area, her eyes laid upon something sticking out of the tree line. Sam's weight shifted, causing Wade to lose concentration and look besides him. He did a double take on the empty spot, standing up sharply and staring round the forest. "Vincent!" Wade shouted.

Miller's head shot up from the conversation, sighs were heard among the group, Reiben sighed. "I am gonna kick his …"

"Captain!" Vincent's voice sounded behind them. Miller turned round, narrowing his eyes to try to see where Vincent stood. "I think I've found a place we can stay." Sam strolled into the soldier's view; she threw her arms back to where she had just come from. "Follow me."

Miller grunted angrily. Power walking behind the small soldier. "I have had enough of your stupid antics, I am warning…" He passed through a thick bush and his eyes rested upon a huge cottage. He looked down at the smiling Vincent, whose eyes sparkled in achievement.

"It's abandoned, I checked." Miller noticed how feminine Vincent's features looked, then shook his head from concentration.

"Boys! We have a dry night tonight!"


	6. The Scare

Cheers and laughter sounded throughout the squadron, even Horvath chuckled to himself. Sam was heading over to the entrance of the house when she was stopped by Miller, who grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"Listen Private, you may have found us an extremely good place to sleep for the night, but that is no excuse for you to just run off without my permission. Don't do it again." Sam nodded lightly, Miller sighed releasing her arm and heading inside.

The cottage was fairly old, the ceiling was made of elm wood, the walls were made from pine wood, and the floors were a light green carpet. There were little objects in the house, a few tables and chairs littered the living room, the kitchen was extremely clean, the cutlery was tidied away, and the surfaces were clean. Upstairs there were four bedrooms and two bathrooms, the bathrooms each contained a bath, a sink and a toilet with a single mirror and a few cabinets stuck on the wall. The bedrooms only had one bed, drawers and a chair, they looked undisturbed, untouched for years.

Once everyone, but Mellish and Caparzo, was inside, the atmosphere soon began to lighten. To their dismay, there was no electricity working, so they had to use candles to light the cottage.

Miller stood up straight, glanced around and began to talk. "Mellish and Caparzo are on patrol outside, scanning the surrounding area. Jackson and Reiben head upstairs on opposite sides of the house; see if you can see above the trees. Poole, Yenick, Wade, Upham look around for supplies, or go outside and help Mellish and Caparzo."

Poole and Yenick began to move around the house, Poole glanced over his shoulder and his gaze lingered over Vincent, his brows furrowed in confusion. Vincent caught his gaze and stared at the ground, gulping nervously. Yenick elbowed Poole and the two began to have a quiet discussion, glancing momentarily back at Sam before heading into the dining room.

Upham shook his head quickly, looking gingerly towards the darkness outside. Reiben chuckled to Jackson, then proceeded to slap Upham on the back, causing him to fly forward.

"Vincent, you need to stay upstairs and keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

Reiben cursed quietly before heading upstairs. He stopped beside Sam and licked his lips. "Keep an eye out, they could be anywhere."

Sam watched Reiben climb the stairs and sighed, rubbing her shoulder without realising. Wade instinctively moved towards her, brushing her hand away, a look of concern shadowed his features. "Is it hurting?"

"I'm fine." She slapped his hands away and walked up the wooden stairs.

Miller and Horvath stared at the medic, who looked after the embarrassed Private. "Wade you're talking to him as if you're a married couple. You fond of him?"

Wade laughed out loud at the commanding officers confused faces. "What? No, no. He's my patient and all." Miller nodded in realisation.

After Miller and Horvath headed into the dining room to talk about manoeuvres, Upham began to look through the kitchen for food; he found four loaves of bread and tins of tomato soup.

"You do look after him more than the other guys, you know." Upham spoke, glancing at Wade.

Wade's head rose slowly. "Well, no-one else is injured. Yet." Wade smiled. "He's just not fitting in well."

Upham scoffed. "Poole and Yenick are more injured than him. He gets with everyone better than me. I mean, he's the smallest, most rebellious, yet he only get's a slap on the hand."

Wade glanced towards the tired Upham and bit his lip.

Upstairs Vincent was in the smallest bedroom, which had the least amount of view to the surrounding fields. The darkened sky shadowed the forests, making it almost impossible for Vincent to see past the rows of trees. She heard Reiben and Jackson talking in the room opposite hers. They were talking loudly, laughing at inappropriate jokes. She heard Poole snoring in the room next to hers, causing her to smile to herself happily. After half an hour Yenick strode in and announced he had come to take over.

Vincent walked past Reiben's room, he had nodded off, his head rested on his arms, quiet snores came from his sleeping form. Vincent giggled quietly to herself, tip-toed into the room and up to the Private.

She bent down low, so she was level to his ear, drew in a deep breath and screamed: "GET UP YOU LAZY SON OF A BITCH, MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

Reiben jumped involuntarily, falling on the floor, looking around quickly, clutching his gun, his face turned deathly pale, fear in his eyes. Sam clutched her stomach, laughing loudly.

Reiben smiled at her, advanced towards her, threw his hand back as if to punch her lightly. She ducked just in time and kneed him in the stomach. He fell to the floor, below her feet. "Hey man, you're so funny, I'm laughing so hard my stomach hurts." Reiben stood up, but bent over slightly, hand on stomach.

"Asshole." He muttered as she strode out of the room, and straight into Jackson, who threw his head back, avoiding Sam's helmet.

She looked up at the smiling sniper. "Oh, Jackson. Sorry, again." She kept her head down as she headed into the bathroom.

She looked at herself in the mirror, mud had hardened on her face and neck, making her look like a gargoyle. With a beard. She pulled her helmet off, her dark brown straight locks brushed her shoulders, knotty, messy strands stuck to her face. Sam cursed at her reflection, she looked awful. Immediately, she took her clothes off and began washing herself in the bath. The soap washed away the grease and grime, leaving her skin feeling soft, and clean. She dried herself off with a towel and looked through the cabinet for some sort of lotion, which she applied to her face and body. She had just finished putting her trousers and underwear on when Wade ran in and closed the door.

Sam's eyes widened, she stuttered and shielded her chest, which was covered with a plain black material bra. She spun around, catching the edge of the bath, she fell in with a thud. "Wade what the fuck do you want?" She growled.

Wade blushed deeply, his cheeks flaming red. "I'm sorry, I just..." His eyes trailed over her body. She was beautiful, her stomach was flat, her chest was perky, her face was gorgeous. He tried to compose himself, but had to look away, towards the small window in the corner of the room. He helped her out of the bath and looked down at her intently.

"Wade… I…" She stumbled on her words. He looked at the wound on her shoulder and sighed.

"It's re-opened a bit, I'll go get my kit." He gulped, letting his gaze lower down Sam's body, he walked out of the room.

Sam cursed to herself loudly, shouting it. She grabbed her bag and grabbed clean socks, pulling them on, she put her boots on. She decided to clean her boots lightly, giving them a slight shine. By the time Wade had come back, her hair was dry, loose strands fell around her face. He began cleaning the wound and re-dressing it.

"Wade, you're so awkward." Sam laughed at Wade's blush and tongue as it stuck out of his mouth in concentration.

"I'm sorry, truly. I just… haven't been around women in a while." He whispered, smiling. "There you go, all patched up." He stood up and reached for a strand, brushing it behind her ear, realising that Sam eyes widened he put his arm down, shuffling from foot to foot.

Sam took out a long grey bandage that she had scrubbed in the bath tub and began to wrap it around her chest, wincing at the familiar uncomfortably tight feeling, and before she knew it, her chest were as flat as any other mans. Sam stood and pulled her black top and camouflage shirt on. Rolling the sleeves up she looked at her clean skin. She looked up at Wade and sighed. "Let's get back to business." She smiled and pulled her helmet over her head.

As she walked out of the bathroom Wade's nose wrinkled, he frowned. "You smell all girl-like. Lotion?"

"It's called being clean Wade." Sam retorted, sniggering at the medic's scowl.

Wade headed downstairs, Sam walked down the corridor of the upper floor, checking all the rooms slightly, until she came to a door at the end, she tried to open it, it was bolted shut.

"Hey Jackson? Have you checked this room?" She called out. Jackson peered round the side of a door four rooms down. Confusion crept over his face.

"No, thought you did."

"It's bolted shut." Sam replied, lowering her head to obscure Jackson's view of her face. She tried the door again, without any success.

Jackson strolled from his post, stopping beside the small Private. He pushed the door, which wouldn't shift. He looked down at her. "You really are very small." Sam shot him a glare. "Why can't you just kick the door down?" Sam shrugged, Jackson sighed quietly. "Stand back."

She stood a couple of steps away, whilst he used all his strength to kick the hard wooden door. Four kicks later, the door came off its hinges and split in two.

Vincent's face fell, Jackson turned white. "Oh no."

They both grabbed their guns and sprinted downstairs. "EVERYONE NEEDS TO GET OUT, NOW!" Sam screamed.

Reiben, Wade, Poole and Yenick ran out of the bedrooms and down the stairs. Poole glanced back at the exposed room, German flags stuck to the walls, a desk piled high with papers, signed with the German stamp of approval, Nazi symbols were painted black all across the room. A radio was stuck in the far corner of the wall, voices sounded from it. Wade's heart accelerated, he ran downstairs, Miller was deathly pale.

"It's an… out house? A GERMAN FUCKING OUT HOUSE?" He shouted.

Vincent nodded quickly; Upham's gun trembled in his hands. Horvath was speechless.

"Alright, everyone move out. NOW." Miller screamed. Immediately everyone began to clamber out of the house and run into the tree line.

Mellish and Caparzo stood watching as everyone ran past them. Reiben grabbed both of them, dragging them into the trees.

Vincent was just outside when she looks at her back. "Shit." She muttered. She looked up, trying to spot any of her comrades. "I've forgotten my pack." She shouted into the darkness, before running into the cottage.

Wade turned around just to see her disappear. "No, Sam get back here!" He shouted.

Everyone had turned back to where they had just come from. Miller was looking at the upstairs windows; he spotted Sam heave her pack onto her back and disappear again into the house.

He sighed with relief, a close escape.

"Captain get down." Mellish dragged Miller onto the floor.

Miller glanced at Caparzo, who motioned to the road ahead of them. Miller looked up.

There was three cars full of German soldiers.

Approximately Fifteen soldiers were coming towards the house.

They walked inside.

Sam was still inside.


	7. The Window

Wade lurched forward, only to be stopped by Caparzo, who grabbed him by the pack and restrained his hands and legs. Caparzo leaned to Wade's ear and whispered angry words to him.

Wade looked up at Miller. "You have to do something." He whispered.

Miller bit his lip, he couldn't risk sending everyone in there, they were too outnumbered. But, he couldn't let one of his team die, Vincent was a valuable asset.

"Sir, may I make a suggestion?" Poole crawled beside Miller and led down.

"I suggest you shut the fuck up." Reiben hissed.

Poole glared at the Private, and then returned to Miller. "We need to take out the patrols around the house first, then we'll pick them off one by one, or do you have any other ideas?" For some reason Poole felt a tug of concern towards Vincent, it was small, but enough to make him fear for her life.

"And how are we going to do that Poole?" Miller whispered, screwing his face in concentration, Vincent had disappeared into the house.

"I have a plan sir."

Miller thought hard, it sounded good, but he needed someone to go in and see if Vincent was well, alive in fact, he didn't want to risk any unnecessary injuries.

Miller turned his head, glanced around until he found Jackson. "Jackson? Can you climb?"

"Like hell I can sir, climbing champ in my town."

"Well, I'm going to need you to do something in a few minutes."

Sam heaved her heavy pack onto her back, looking briefly outside to see Wade mouthing something, they were all led down. She rolled her eyes and sniggered, they always thought 'military', always ready for a non-existent battle. She laughed to herself as she made her way to the stairs. Then she heard them.

A car door slammed from outside, ten more door slams followed. Sam froze, fear gripping her bones. The front door opened and German voices floated through the downstairs area. She started to tip-toe through the upstairs, and walked into the closest bedroom to her, shutting the door, she left the door slightly open so she could see the top of the stairs. Four tall, dark haired German soldiers came stumbling up the stairs and went into the bedroom opposite the one she was in.

Sam ran to the window, and opened it to peer down below her, there was approximately five men patrolling around the outside of the house, each holding a BAR gun similar to Reiben's. She swore frantically as she looked for a mode of escape, she rushed to the door, looking onto the landing she saw the four Germans talking in the other room. They hadn't discovered that someone had broken into their operations room yet.

She listened hard, tensing in concentration. There were loads of voices downstairs, tens of them, eating, laughing, singing, shouting. Suddenly, the voices from outside all stopped at once. She slowly walked to the window and looked down, the patrols were all gone. There was silence apart from the voices downstairs.

"What the…" Vincent's breath quickened, her heart accelerated, she couldn't get out, without being seen. She was too loud with her pack on. She squeezed her eyes shut, thinking of a plan.

Her eyes flew open, she took her pack off and rummaged around until her fingers came into contact with a small, round, metal object, pulling it out of her bag she stuffed it into her pocket. She crept over to the window and looked down; there were no windows directly below her. She hauled her pack over the edge of the windowsill and threw it down on the ground. It landed with a loud thud.

She cringed, waiting for the Germans to realise they were not alone, waiting for the patrol to spot the bag and shoot her dead. Nothing happened, she smiled to herself, her plan was working.

Silently, she shuffled over to the door, there was no longer four, but seven soldiers discussing something in the room opposite. Perfect. She moved over to the window, hoping that her squad hadn't left her, she lifted one foot out of the window, but as she looked down she froze. Her pack was gone, and the voices in the other room were quiet.

She was about to turn round when a hand cupped around her mouth, she wriggled frantically, elbowing who ever had hold of her. She heard groans and gasps, but the other person was stronger.

"Shut up Sam, it's me." Jackson's soft voice came from behind her.

She relaxed instantly, Jackson let go of her. She spun round, Jackson was muddy, he was short of breath, and clutching his stomach.

"Oh I'm sorry." She whined, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Shh." He hissed, glancing round to the door. "The guys have taken care of the patrols outside, I've taken care of the three guys in the other room, we need to get out of here." Jackson glanced at Sam's confused face. "I climbed up the side of the house." Sam nodded.

"Did you say… three guys?" Jackson nodded, Sam raised her head. "There were seven guys when I last peered out…"

Jackson's face fell as he looked closer into Sam's, he looked at the strands of long hair poking out from her helmet, she had never given anyone a full view of her face, and now he knew why, he began to shake his head.

"But… you're…" Jackson began. Realisation hit Jackson like a wave, Vincent paled slightly.

She opened her mouth to speak when they heard boots outside the in the hallway, she ran behind the door, dragging Jackson with her. She pinned him to the wall by his chest, he just stared at her, his cheeks flooded pink.

The door opened, someone was standing, scanning the room, Sam could hear him breathing, could hear the rasping after just running up the stairs. After two minutes the man retreated back into the hallway. Sam sighed in relief.

Jackson grabbed her shoulders lightly, and marched her to the middle of the room, he reached for her helmet, her face crumpled.

"I have a plan." She mumbled, stepping away from Jackson. She lifted what she had in her pocket out, showing it to the sniper.

His eyes widened. "You can't be handling that, it's too dangerous for a ma'am." He reached for the grenade.

She raised her knee, so it hit his stomach. "You didn't think it was so dangerous when I beat all your asses. Shut up I have a…"

Shouts and boots sounded from the end of the hallway, shouts and screams of foreign curses clouded the air. They had found the broken door.

"Now, we need to run." Sam grabbed Jackson's hand, and dragged him out of the bedroom, and down the stairs.

Ten of the Germans shouted and raised their gun towards them from the other side of the hallway, they had to lower their heads and shield themselves from bullets as they ran downstairs.

As they reached downstairs, Sam looked up to see four Germans guarding the front door. She swore quietly, dragging Jackson into the kitchen where she stood against the kitchen wall, panting.

She lifted the grenade, staring at it intently before biting the pin off and throwing it up the stairs.

"What the fuck you doin'" Jackson screamed as they ran full pelt towards the large open kitchen window.

The explosion ripped through the house, flames licked the walls, men were screaming everywhere, glass shattered, wood burned.

Jackson and Sam flew through the window; heat exploded after them, burning their faces, a force pushed them seven feet away from the house and into the trees. They hit the ground with a thud, Sam's helmet flew off her head.


	8. The Deaf Snipe

Fire exploded out of the house as the grenade was set off, flames licked the sides of the cottage, dark grey smoke billowed into the sky, every window in the house had smashed, glass fell down upon the ground like rain. Screams echoed throughout the house, a single Nazi flag fell to the ground outside the front door.

Jackson rubbed his eyes wearily, every limb ached. His face and hands stung lightly, he dragged himself up onto his elbows and watched as the house burned into oblivion. His ears rung, he couldn't hear anything, panicking; he tried to look around for someone.

A light force pushed him into the ground, he looked up to see the pale face of Vincent, hair hanging in front of her face, she furiously brushed her hair behind her ears, she was saying something to Jackson, but he couldn't hear. Muttering the Lord's Prayer, he watched as Vincent grabbed her canteen, and began cleaning Jackson's face with the sleeve of her shirt.

Slowly, he heard quiet crackling, and Vincent's small voice. "Jackson? Jackson, look at me. Jackson you've got to listen…" Her face crumpled, she was getting scared, her shirt was slightly covered in blood, though she had hardly any wounds on him. He slowly started to regain his hearing as Vincent started to shout.

"Vincent? What in the hell happened?" He muttered, slightly dazed.

She laughed shakily. "I thought I seriously hurt you there for a minute. You've only got two small cuts on your face from where you jumped out the window, told you putting your arm over your face would save you."

"You didn't say anything in the slightest." He looked around the burning wreckage. "Where's the others?"

Vincent stopped and turned around, gazing proudly at the house, then back at the confused Private. Shouts echoed into the night, worried screams blared from the other side. They were calling the two missing soldiers.

"We're over…" Jackson began to scream, Vincent led on him, face only millimetres away from his, she covered his mouth with her hand.

"Do not tell anyone about me. Do you hear me? Anyone. Especially not that Reiben." She hissed, reaching over his head to grab her helmet, she was covered in ash, but had sustained no outer injuries.

Jackson grabbed her wrist before she had the chance to put her helmet on, she gazed down at him, he pulled her closer to him. "We will talk."

"Later." She hurried, pulling on her helmet, she stood up. Walked out into the open and coughed slightly, shielding herself from the smoke. "We're here, we're here!" She shouted.

Figures became clear in the smoke screen, as the rest of the soldiers began to run towards Vincent. Wade was first, giving her a small hug, she pointed towards the led down Jackson. Wade rushed over, and began to treat the minor cuts to Jackson's face and hands. Jackson winced as Wade poured anti-septic on the injuries.

Jackson peered over Wade's shoulder to watch as Miller strode up to Vincent, but, instead of shouting at her, he patted her roughly on the shoulder. A small hint of a smile plastered his lips, that was until Reiben marched over towards the two, threw his hands towards the sky, the house, then at Vincent.

Miller's face fell, he began shouting at Vincent loudly, but Jackson had not fully regained his hearing, he couldn't hear the argument taking place. "Doc, what's goin' on?"

Wade glanced back, then returned his attention to Jackson. "Jackson, you've lost your hearing for a little bit, but it'll come back eventually, you only have a few small cuts, nothing major." Wade glanced back again. "We have to go, now."

Wade and Mellish pulled Jackson to his feet, then allowed him to run on his own. The squad had begun to run back from where they had first come from, Poole and Yenick hung back with an angered Vincent. Not looking at them, Vincent strode ahead to catch up with the rest of the squad.

"Can someone tell me why in the hell we're movin'?" Jackson yelled at everyone, Caparzo whacked him on the back to silence him, but earned himself a hard slap on the arm from Vincent.

Once they were a couple of miles away from the burning house most of the group sat down on a small, damp hill hidden beneath foliage. Miller, Horvath, Poole and Yenick took out their maps and started map-marking their route to Neuville, whilst the rest sat down around Jackson and Vincent.

"How the fuck you do that, huh shortie?" Mellish laughed, staring at Vincent, who was standing with her arms folded crossly.

"AT3 grenade." She replied quietly. "But apparently that was wrong." She snarled, glaring at Reiben.

Jackson looked at the young woman, barely old enough to be licensed as an adult, yet she had such darkness in her, which drove her to kill her opponents without a second thought, without a single regret. What kind of world had this become?

Reiben shook his head, exasperated. "That house, in flames, that KRAUTZ out house, up in flames. And you're telling me that it would not alert anyone at all? Look at the sky, it's all smoke, people will be alerted."

Vincent gritted her teeth. "You weren't saying that when I killed all those Krautz! I saved all your asses, they had grenades in there! Grenades on them, they would have killed you if you had moved, you and I both know that!" She shook with rage. "And yet I am being told off like some child, we have approximately three hours to get out of the house's radius, it's night Reiben! They can't see black smoke in black sky!"

"Let's all stay here, let's waste why we came out into this goddamn country. You tell the Colonel why we disappeared."

Caparzo sighed loudly as Reiben rose, towering over Vincent. "For god's sake you two, get a grip, you're both right! That's the end. We're moving out soon anyway."

"What?" Jackson shouted loudly, concentrating on the soldiers. Vincent bent down close to him and raised her finger to her lips. Jackson glanced at her smiling face, and relaxed immediately.

"Right, we're moving out!" Miller came into view again, he glanced at Upham quickly, who was leaning on the edge of the hill, trying to hear the earlier conversations. "Twenty miles due east, we should hit the outskirts of Neuville. Check your canteens, eat now, do your business now, etcetera."

The squad moved shortly after Wade had checked Jackson over again. Miller was at the front, Reiben and Horvath at his flanks, Vincent, Jackson and Wade in the middle, Mellish and Caparzo at their flanks, whilst Upham, Poole and Yenick at the back.

Reiben was the first talk, his voice dripped with sarcasm. "Poole c'mon you seem the type of guy with a good story."

Poole chuckled deeply, rubbing his chin with his fingers. "Too old for you boy."

The squad sniggered, the mood lightened immediately. Caparzo and Mellish slapped each other on the back, cigarettes hanging from their mouths. Poole, Yenick, Wade and Reiben soon lit up smokes, blowing puffs of smoke into the air.

Vincent coughed, waving her hand around in the air. "Do you have to smoke? In the middle of a field? Whilst moving?" She screwed up her face.

"Aww, what's the matter boo, don't like a little smoke?" Reiben teased, blowing smoke directly in her face.

"No I fucking don't, why do you think I asked?" Sam hissed, running past Reiben to talk to Miller.

Once she was out of ear shot, Reiben hung back to join the rest of the group. "There is something not right about that kid."

Wade scoffed. Jackson shot him a glance, Wade smiled. "I think there's something right about that kid." Jackson shrugged.

"You wanna man in your life?" Reiben laughed, blowing Jackson a kiss. Jackson puckered up too, and then smiled widely.

"I think he's alright." Caparzo looked at Reiben.

"Yeah, I mean he's a little annoying, but… kid's got talent." Mellish shook his head. "Upchuck on the other hand…" The team laughed, Upham looked confused.

"I like him." Wade said, looking at the ground.

"He's alright I guess, not in a poofy way, like Wade." Reiben nodded at Vincent, who was deep in conversation with Miller and Horvath.

Wade sighed loudly. "Shut up."

Upham power-walked into the middle of the moving men. "What's, uh, what's wrong with me?"

The team laughed so loudly, Miller turned and glared at them. After he looked back at Vincent she sighed and walked back to her position.

"This mission is so FUBAR." She sighed, fiddling with her helmet.

"FUBAR." Reiben agreed, the others nodded.

Upham frowned. "What's, uh, what's FUBAR?" He stuttered.

"Oh, it's German. Thought you would of heard of it." Mellish nodded, Caprazo grinned.

"FUBAR." Upham whispered.

As they walked over a large hill, they stopped and looked at the village in front of them.

"Here we are ladies, Neuville."


	9. The Shot

Rain poured down on the disfigured town, mud swam in puddles, there was rubble from the destroyed buildings everywhere, bricks laid strewn across the ground. A rusty black gate that had once been the entrance to the town was inside of a nearby house, a gaping hole was left in the downstairs.

Miller had led the others into the wreckage, to a grey, broken wall that five soldiers were standing against. Some of the soldiers turned their heads, double checking Miller's squad, then smiling. A small, round man stood next to a crumbling hole in the brick wall.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." He spoke in an annoying, droning voice, Sam cringed every time he spoke. "Finally reliefs here, how many of them are ya?" The man smiled.

"We're not here to relieve you, sorry, there's eight of us. Captain Miller." Miller introduced himself, shaking the man's hand lightly. The man sagged in disappointment.

"Sergeant Hill, me and my guys have been separated from the rest of our unit." He said, turning to look through the hole, clutching his rifle in his hands. "Why are you here exactly?"

"We're here for a Private Ryan, Private James Ryan." Miller spoke loudly, gaining the Sergeant's full attention.

"Who?" Hill glanced at the ground quickly. "Ryan? What'd ya want with him?"

"Is he here?" Miller sighed, moving to the other side of Hill to get a better look at the surrounding areas.

"Yeah, probably on the other side of town with the rest of the mixed unit. Germans hit us, a…a… counterattack, cut us right in two. Hard to go anywhere let alone walk through town." Hill saw impatience in Miller's face. "I'll check if Ryan's here." Shortly after, Hill called for a runner to find a safe route through the city, and deliver a message to the commanding officer, Captain Hamill. "Hey, make sure you ask about this Private Ryan." Hill shooed the runner away, watching as he ran round the corner.

Sam, Caparzo, Mellish and Reiben were behind an old, wooden cart, a crate of apples had spilled besides it. Sam was near the front wheel of the cart, it had several, large bullet holes in it. Behind, Caparzo started to pick up apples and take bites out of them, spitting them out and throwing the rest away if they were bruised. Sam smiled when she heard Reiben mutter "Do you have to do that now?"

Sam peered over the cart, there was a large open space, a building had collapsed in the middle, piles of bricks were everywhere near the houses on both sides of the street. The rain dripped off of her helmet, giving the illusion of a small waterfall running from the tip of her helmet. "Why don't you just go out there?" Sam asked, turning to Sergeant Hill.

The runner had ran out to try and go around the church, but a shot echoed throughout the rain. Everyone jumped, an apple flew out of Caparzo's hand and hit Mellish in the head, who swore loudly. Sam clasped her hands round her gun tightly, Miller even jumped a little. Hill lowered his head quickly, and stuttered.

"That is why stupid, you think we're here for fun?"

Sam frowned, she dropped her gun and started to move towards Hill, but was disrupted from her trail of thoughts by Reiben, who grabbed her arm lightly and shook his head.

Caparzo ran towards Miller and peeped over the wall, just as the body of the dead runner was shot, fifty times, by unknown people.

"You sick fucking animals!" Caparzo screamed into the open, Miller had to drag him down behind the wall.

Sam face hardened, she gritted her teeth and looked back to where Wade was. His face was strong, he didn't want to show any emotion, but tears welled in his eyes. He noticed Sam looking at him and smiled shyly, she smiled back warmly.

"Head out." Sergeant Hill shouted, sprinting around the house nearest to him.

Everyone else followed obediently, as soon as they rounded a corner, however, a group of fifteen Germans stood in their way, but were completely oblivious to the American soldiers who had took aim at them.

Reiben smiled to himself, they had the element of surprise. As they moved to pull their triggers, Sam shifted her weight onto her other leg, but had toppled over because she tripped on a small stone.

"Ah, shit." She swore, her face muddy from the ground.

The Germans spun round, "Kontakt!" They all screamed, but there were more Americans, the thirty of them had pulled their triggers, killing all of the Germans in a matter of seconds.

Hill had already started running through the bodies when Sam lifted her head from her gun, Wade walked past her, glancing back at her momentarily. She had light brown mud all over her face and helmet, a massive blob of mud painted her neck and chest, she stood up and Wade couldn't help but laugh. It looked as though she had thrown up all over herself.

Sam's head shot up. "What?" She asked, her eyes innocent.

Wade shook his head, still smiling. "Nothing, you look, uh, lovely."

Sam looked at her chest, then registered his meaning, throwing him a scowl. It was the first time Wade had laughed in a long time; he was normally full of such sadness, a sadness that no one should ever contain. But Vincent understood why there were no smiles around her; she doubted there were ever going to be any smiles for a while.

Vincent had to sprint to try and keep up with the rest of the men, but after five minutes of running she hadn't found them, weaving in and out of rubble, her fear started to increase. Her heart raced, she gripped her gun so tightly that her knuckles whitened. As she ran, water splashed up her leg from how hard she hit the puddles.

As she walked round a house, a man ran out in front of her. She screamed loudly, involuntarily jumping back a few inches. The man stopped, walked towards her and smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you mate." He shrugged, he was panting heavily, his uniform was dripping wet. He looked at her uniform, his eyes widened in recognition. "Hey, you're part of Captain Miller's team aren't you?" She nodded. "Oh, he's looking for you. They all are."

"Where are they?" She asked, narrowing her eyes to get a clearer look at him, he was pale, tall and lanky. She mentally sighed.

"About a half mile that way." He pointed towards a little path in between a couple of houses; he smiled before running off into the sheets of rain.

Sam set off down the small stone path, starting to feel relief. That was until she came into the open, an abnormally clean street was in the centre of the town. Sam tried to stop herself from running, but ended up in the middle of the open space. In front of her, was a group of six tall, Germans.

They hadn't seen her yet, as they had their backs to her. She didn't know whether to attempt to shoot them, or run. She didn't have long to make the decision as she heard footsteps beside her, then a heavy force knocked her bank into the narrow alleyway. She had fallen ungracefully on her bum; she looked up to see Reiben standing with his back against the brick wall, glancing momentarily at Vincent's light blush.

"Where have you been, eh?" He frowned, looking down at her. "Thought the Krautz got you." He whispered, peering at her face, smiling warmly. Sam blushed lightly at how close his head was to hers, peering a glance at his lips. He grabbed her to her feet and pushed her in front of him, he shook off the slight attraction to the Private.

"Finally, c'mon you guys." Jackson's voice piped up from behind them, Reiben started to move away, not before half-smiling at Sam.

Sam followed reluctantly, dragging her gun beside her. They came to a house that had been ripped open by a bomb, a family of five were on the top floor. An older man spoke quick French, motioning to a little girl in the arms of a young woman. Her face was pleading, her family were soaking wet, a baby started to cry as it began to be frantically rocked by its young mother. A small boy had hid behind his parents, fear plastered on his face. They were in a living room, no doubt their house, only a few pieces of furniture remained. A huge pile of rubble was piled high outside the building, making it easy for anyone to jump in or out.

The American soldiers were hid behind huge pieces of rubble, Miller behind a large black car. As soon as he saw Sam he rolled his eyes and shook his head. Upham was trying hysterically to calm the family down, shaking his head and holding up his hands.

"Sir, he's saying to take his children." Upham looked at Miller, who shook his head.

"We can't take them!"

Upham started speaking French again, telling them that they couldn't and wouldn't. Caparzo glanced at the family, walking up the pile of rubble as the father held out the little girl. Caparzo smiled at her, holding her in his arms, he looked peaceful, he held out his cross necklace, which she took whilst crying uncontrollably, she held her arms out to her family.

"What're you doing? Put her back!" Shouts came from everywhere; people were throwing their arms in the air, shaking their heads disapprovingly.

Miller marched up to Caparzo, anger flashed through his face. "Put her back!"

"Sir, we could drop her off in the next village, she's just a kid." Caparzo pleaded, his face desperate.

"We are not here to be nice, we are here to follow orders!" Miller retched the girl from Caparzo's grasp, dropping her near a sitting Horvath and Upham.

Caparzo held his hands out, his face crumpling. "Why can't we just…"

A shot rang through the rain, blood spurted from Caparzo's chest, he fell to the ground.


	10. The Loss

Immediately, everyone dove into the nearest hole and hiding place, rifles at the ready. The air had fallen deadly silent. "Caparzo!" Sam whispered, slowly moving towards his shaking body. Wade wrapped an arm around her middle, dragging her with him towards a pile of rubble where Hill led. Sam tried to release his grasp of her, wriggling her body quickly, but he was stronger than her.

As soon as he put her down, she tried to stand up again. Wade was too slow to notice, but Reiben was the first to crawl over to her. She had managed to run to the side of a big, black car, peering over the hood to glance at Caparzo, before a heavy weight crashed down on her. She landed on her stomach, her breath flew out of her. In front, Miller hissed quietly towards her direction.

"Stop squirming man." Sam twisted her head round, Reiben clutched his rifle to his chest whilst crossly staring at her.

"You're sat on me!" She whispered in a low voice, her legs and arms sprawled out under Reiben. Jackson snuck round the side of the car, not even noticing the two until Sam spoke to him: "Jackson, what are you doing?"

Jackson shook his head then glanced wearily at Reiben, then Sam. "Sniper, tower, North, gonna' take that son of a bitch out." Then Jackson ran round the other side of the car, and jumped into a small crater made from rubble, configuring his rifle.

"Reiben, get off me." Sam hissed, hitting him roughly on the back.

Reiben hissed quietly and glared at Sam. "Shh."

Sam lay on the ground, her head on its side, she was staring under the car, there was enough space underneath to see Caparzo holding his arm up, his mouth moving, speaking to someone close by. Caparzo's eyes slowly moved down, he lids began to close. But his eyes connected with Sam's wide ones, he lifted his arm, his hand reaching for Sam. A high pitched bang thundered through the town, just as Caparzo's arm fell beside him.

Everyone froze, Sam could feel Reiben tensing. "It's alright, we got him." Mellish shouted.

Instantly, soldiers sprang from their positions, running in all directions. Reiben leapt up, Sam scrambled to her feet. She made her way around the car, to see her group stood in a circle, huddled around Caparzo's lifeless body. Sam pushed through Jackson and Upham, she frowned when she saw Wade furiously try to save Caparzo's life. The medic was pumping Caparzo's chest with his hands, sweat beginning to appear on his brow. He let out sharp breaths with every push, he put his face near to Caparzo's mouth every so often, checking for any sign of life.

Mellish sunk to his knees next to Caparzo, tears spilling down his muddy cheeks. Everyone was silent, their heads bowed. Reiben's jaw clenched in anger, Miller rubbed his chin with his fingers. Poole and Yenick sighed deeply and walked over to join with some remaining soldiers. Horvath placed a hand on Wade's shoulder, but Wade shrugged it off roughly. Jackson was leaning against his rifle, his eyes set on Sam, who was next to him. She had her head down, but she was staring at Wade, concerned. He squeezed her hand lightly, wanting to make her feel better. Mellish reached into Caparzo's front pocket, pulling out a bloodied piece of paper.

Jackson and Sam walked round to the other side of Caparzo; they grabbed Wade's arms, and pulled him to his feet. Wade struggled against them; Sam found it increasingly difficult to hold her grip. Moments later, Wade stopped, and stood up. All eyes were on him as he took out a dark green sheet, and covered Caparzo. Sam approached him and squeezed his arm gently.

The squad began to walk away, towards a group of soldiers led by Hill. There was no sound but the fall of the rain. Hill was looking at Miller, averting the gaze of the others on him.

"I'm sorry Captain for your loss." Hill stuttered, smiling sympathetically.

Miller nodded, glancing over his shoulder at Wade, who was standing by Vincent and Jackson. Jackson had his rifle in the ready position, moving it from side to side as he checked the area. Sam was staring at Wade, who had his head down.

They had been weaving through buildings, and had come around the back of one building, in an alleyway. Hill looked around quickly and began to sit down on a pile of rubble leaning against a crumbling wall.

"We'll just rest here for a moment."

Soldiers began to relax their arms, talk quietly amongst themselves. Jackson was talking to Reiben, Mellish to Horvath; all were looking over worriedly at Wade, who had his head buried in his hands. Sam bit her lip; she hated seeing him like this.

"Wade, I…"

All of a sudden, a large wooden beam slipped from under Hill, who tumbled slightly as the beam hit the wall behind him. Bricks flew everywhere, the wall came down, revealing ten German soldiers staring confused at the group of soldiers. Everyone raised their guns, aimed it at the opposite team and began shouting threats of death. Wade had jumped behind the soldiers, taking refuge behind Miller. Everyone was on edge, testosterone pumped through their veins like vodka, fast and painful, their hearts beat furiously against their chests.

Suddenly, gun fire rained from above them, the soldiers crashed to the ground, Wade put his arm around Vincent. Blood spurted across the room, the Germans shuddered, and their bodies slumped to the floor. The firing stopped, Horvath picked himself off the floor and ran inside, checking if the Germans were all dead.

Hill struggled to stand up, Jackson winced as he stared above him, sunlight hitting his eyes. Above, four soldiers stood with smoking guns, glaring at the mumbling Sergeant below. Hill's eyes widened momentarily, before he scrambled to his feet and ran up wooden stairs to talk to the officers.

Wade slowly retracted his arm away from Sam, and stood up without saying a word. Vincent gazed up at him, smiling sheepishly. "Thanks Wade."

The officers that were standing on a platform above turned out to be the commanding office Captain Fred Hamil, and soldiers from his team. Miller immediately set to work talking to him about his journey, and about his recent loss, which Hamil responded by patting Miller on the shoulder.

Hamil soon began to direct the Charlie Company to a more populated area of the town, the sun shone through spaces between the buildings, illuminating all of the soldiers and their deadly weapons. Hamil started asking around for people to find 'Private James Ryan'.

Mellish hadn't spoken since Caparzo's death, although Reiben and Jackson had tried to communicate with him, to be met with Mellish taking a long drag from his lit cigar. Upham had cleaned his rifle a number of times to pre-occupy himself, Horvath watched over him, amused.

Soon, a tall, lanky man with a wonky helmet began running towards the two Captains, through the Charlie company. Reiben sighed heavily, insulting 'Ryan' with every snide remark he could make up. When Ryan had sat down with the Captains and begun deep conversation, Vincent took a deep breath and marched over to where Wade was sat.

"Wade could you come with me a minute?" She grabbed his arm, making him follow her.

She entered a nearby building and walked up the stairs, Wade following her, confused. As soon as they were in the room on the top floor, Sam checked all the windows to make sure no one could look in.

She turned to Wade, put her rifle on the ground, and took off her helmet. Her dark brown hair fell around her face, framing her beautiful face. Wade shook his head, her deep blue eyes pierced his brown ones, her full lips puckered slightly. She advanced towards him, and threw her arms around his neck, she buried her head into the nape of his neck, squeezing herself to him. He wrapped his arms round her back slowly, resting his cheek on her head.

"I'm so sorry Wade there was nothing you could've done." She whispered into his chest.

He breathed in her scent, reaching his hand to stroke her hair. She smelled of musty roses, the remnants of the soap she had used days before when they had stopped for a break. Her hair felt soft against his rough hand, he stroked her head comfortingly.

"I could've been better." He replied, tears threatening to pour down his cheeks.

She released herself from his grasp and glared at him. But it didn't have the same effect on Wade as it did with her helmet on, she just looked angelic. "Don't say that Wade, you are a great medic. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Wade stared at her, she was trying so hard to reassure him, he smiled.

"What?" She bemused, surprise dancing in her eyes.

"It's just real cute, the way you believe in me." She grinned widely at him.

She strode up to him confidently, held his face in her hands, and kissed him softly on the cheek.

"Vincent? Wade? Where are ya'?" Mellish's voice floated downstairs.

Sam's eyes widened, she hurriedly grabbed her helmet and twisted her hair so that none was visible. She cleared her throat, smiling slightly when she saw Wade blushing a light shade of pink. Mellish ran up the stairs and looked at the two.

"It wasn't him."

Sam's mouth dropped open and Wade cursed loudly. "You serious?" Sam asked, disappointed.

"Yeah, I am. Believe it or not." Mellish still had the lit cigarette hanging from his lips. He eyed Wade and Sam cautiously, before shrugging, and walking down the stairs. "Ya' coming?" He shouted up.

"Where?" Wade called, watching as Sam grabbed her rifle and walked past him, winking at him.

"Church, our bed for the night."


	11. The Church

It had taken them less than twenty minutes to get to the church, Sam was silent for the entire journey, her eyes blinking groggily. She tried not to make exhaustion become a problem, but she knew she had to succumb to it sooner or later. Her arms ached from holding her heavy B.A.R rifle, her legs felt like lead, not co-operating with her head.

Wade and the others were talking quietly among themselves, but Wade had noticed that Reiben hadn't taken his eyes off Sam for ten minutes; he kept biting his lips, like he wanted to say something. Miller was talking to Poole and Yenick; they were in deep conversation with each other.

They got to the outside of the church and Jackson smiled, it had boarded up windows and doors, the only light inside was from a few candles, which were placed in awkward places around the massive room. Sam was the first one in, and the first one to find a comfy spot, and fall fast asleep.

Miller chuckled softly. "Looks like someone was tired."

Mellish, Jackson and Reiben all sat down near Sam, whilst Wade began to write Caparzo's letter to his family. Upham was sat on a seat on his own, his knees tucked to his chest. Poole and Yenick were enjoying quiet cigarettes outside the door, and Miller and Horvath began talking routes.

"It's only three in the afternoon." Reiben mused to everyone, people mumbled in agreement. "Let's walk around, y'know? Explore." He smiled widely, and got up to leave. Jackson, Wade, Mellish, Poole and Yenick followed him, each taking deep drags from their cigarettes, except Wade, of course.

After hours of exploring, and wondering around the squadrons there, they finally, at Eight, came back, their muscles weak from walking around. They resumed with what they were doing before, but they were pleasantly surprised to find that Sam hadn't moved an inch.

Miller peered round the corner and sighed. "Someone wake him up, he's on duty next."

Reiben crawled over to Sam, and shook her vigorously by the shoulder. When she didn't wake immediately Reiben threw a small wooden cross at her helmet. The sound reverberated in the church, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and turn their attention to the fuming private.

Sam was propped up on her elbows, glaring sleepily at Reiben. "What the fuck do you want?" She mumbled groggily, Reiben smiled.

Jackson held his hand up, and strode next to the dazed Private. "We're on duty, come on."

Sam rose to her feet clumsily, and dragged her rifle beside her as she followed Jackson outside the back entrance of the church. She leaned against a crumbling wall, whilst he scanned the surrounding areas, rolling his shoulders often.

"So." Jackson's voice disturbed the silence, Sam's head shot in his direction. "What made you join the army and uh," He waved his hand over her helmet. "Become a man." His heavy Western accent faltered at some words, making them difficult to understand.

Sam looked away for a few moments. "Well, women are quite restricted in what they are allowed to do, so I joined because I wanted to do something helpful."

Jackson nodded awkwardly, sucking his bottom lip. "Well, I joined because my little sister needs someone to look up to, and I will be that someone. And God gave me a gift, and I am gonna use it."

"That's really nice." Sam's voice became soft once she became relaxed.

Jackson looked down at her, her body was facing away from him but her face was fully turned towards him. She was smiling sweetly, her eyes big and bright. "You haven't told anyone about me, right?" She asked quietly. Jackson shook his head.

"How did you do it?" Jackson sat beside Sam; he dwarfed her as he towered over her. She looked at him, brows together. "Get in, we had to pass fitness tests."

"Oh I passed the tests, I'm just not that strong, or good at fist fighting." She stroked her rifle lovingly. "That's why I got old Linda."

Jackson laughed and looked at his own rifle lying in his hands. "My rifle is my child too." She beamed at him.

They stayed in silence for a couple of hours, only breaking it to share a few jokes or make light conversation, Sam was just grateful to be alone with him, she felt at ease as the cool evening air blew against her face.

Vincent sighed and looked around, noticing how dark her surroundings were. "Oh, we better go in, it's getting late."

At that moment, Miller appeared at the door, motioning for them to follow him inside, they did as they were told, passing Reiben talking about his 'slaves.' Jackson sat down next to him and joined in the conversation.

Sam found Wade finishing off Caparzo's letter and sat by him. "Why is it Reiben can never get women off his mind?"

Wade chuckled. "Well, we're all men." Wade glanced at Sam from the corner of his eye. "Except you, of course. We're bound to be, uh, 'frustrated." He made inverted commas with his fingers, and smiled when he heard Sam's happy laugh.

Wade put down his pen and turned to Vincent, he spoke quietly, his face was soft as he gazed into Sam's bright eyes. "C'mon, tell me something about you."

"Well, what do you wanna know?" She whispered.

"Tell me about your family."

Sam's face fell a little bit, she blinked a couple of times. "Well, I have two brothers, Jim and Frank, both older. My father was a very proud man, he was very successful, and that made our family very wealthy. We lived in a huge house on the top of Cherry Hill, overlooking a beautiful little lake." Sam smiled as she reminisced, Wade beamed with her. "Every day I'd always used to look outside of the window of my room and thank the earth for giving me my castle. Eventually, Jim and Frank grew up and left me in the house with my father and our maids, whilst they joined the army."

"What about your mother?" Wade asked, rubbing his chin with his fingers.

Sam nodded, looking down. "I'm the youngest of three, my mother died during child birth." Wade placed his hand over Sam's, squeezing it gently. Sam moved towards Wade, sitting next to him and linked her arm with his. "I've never had the pleasure of meeting my mother, but I was told she was a lovely woman."

"See you inherited that from her then." Wade smiled, Sam grinned widely and looked to the floor, she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Anyway, what about you? Your mother?" She whispered, squeezing the medic's arm.

"Well," Wade shifted slightly. "I didn't actually see much of my mother when she was an intern for the hospital she works out now. She'd work days, get back real late. I always used to be asleep. I'd always be at school in the day, or playing in the street with my friend Benny, what a kid."

Wade and Vincent chuckled silently. "I had a best friend. Her name was Paulina. She was a beautiful little girl, always had a marvellous yellow dress on. I'd always used to get real jealous of her, because no matter what dress I put on, it never out shone Paulie, never." Sam smiled quickly, looking down. "Her mother worked for us as one of the maids, she used to sleep in the small building in the back of our house, I remember always asking if she got cold and would like to sleep in my room. But my father would always used to say that it was best that Paulie would sleep there. But, one day, six years later, she wasn't at my house anymore. She didn't come again; I looked everywhere, round the neighbourhood, round my back garden, under my bed. But I soon got to the out building, it was normally locked." Tears began to well in Sam's eyes; a horrified expression plastered her face. "So, I went in." She stopped, as the tears threatened to spill over. She bit her lip roughly, and clenched her fists, and then the tears were gone. "Sorry."

Wade stared at her in concern; he squeezed her hand, smiling warmly at her. She looked beautiful in the dim light. "What happened?" Sam looked up at Wade and shook her head.

Jackson had overheard the last couple of sentences of their conversation, and was now facing them, he sighed when he saw how close they were to each other. "Hey Vincent?"

Sam's head shot up, she unlinked her arm and shuffled away from Wade quickly. "Hmm?" She nodded.

Jackson shuffled in his place. "Uh, where did you say you live?"

"Nixon."

Poole turned around, suddenly taking interest, "What's your last name?" He got up and sat down in front of Sam, staring at her with wonder.

"Vincent, why?"

Poole's face lit up in remembrance, he smiled widely. "Are you related to the Vincents that live in the massive mansion on Cherry Hill, in West Virginia?"

Sam quickly glanced at Wade and nodded slowly. "I'm a cousin."

"So you're Roger's nephew?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well I'll be." Poole swung onto his heels, and brushed a hand through his hair. "I got called down from Detroit, to Summersville in West Virginia. And, Roger's daughter, Elizabeth, had run away, she was Seventeen at the time. Her brothers came back from the war too, we looked all over that damn state, even in Ohio and Pennsylvania." Sam's face fell immediately, and she paled. "Anyway, we couldn't find her anywhere, I mean; she's probably dead by now. Jim and Frank were devastated, kept mumbling that it was all their faults and stuff, Roger found comfort in whiskey." Poole looked around, everyone was listening to him. "You should have seen her, she was a beautiful girl. Beautiful blue eyes, long, thick, gorgeous dark brown hair, and her body was to die for, y'know. She was a beautiful person, shame that she left us." He sighed, Sam's brow furrowed.

Wade could see Sam's bottom lip quivering, her fists were clenched. Poole looked up at Sam. "Did she ever come visit you?" Sam shook her head. "Shame, spent six months looking for her. Roger spent hundreds of thousands, Frank and Jim still write. We're actually going through the town they're assigned to, be nice to see them."

The church became deadly silent, Sam had hid her face away from the light, Wade could sense her pain, before he had a chance to comfort her, Miller stood up and strode towards the men.

"C'mon get some rest; we're leaving in five hours." He patted Sam on the back before disappearing to a nearby bench.

Everyone led down where they were, resting their heads on their large packs. Sam chose the farthest corner of the church; she curled into a ball, her knees hugged against her chest. For the first time in the four years she had run away, she felt excited. She was going to see her brothers.


	12. The Nickname

A couple of hours after the squad's arrival to the church, they had rested, and had already packed up, ready to leave. As everyone said their goodbyes, Vincent stood on the main road out of Neuville, her hands shaking lightly and she couldn't help but smile slightly. She stood by herself, as she had not really socialised with anyone except her soldiers and a medic called Mark Tony. Mark was like Upham, extremely shy, but unlike Upham, Mark was very handsome and very funny. Sam glanced down at her pack on the floor and fiddled with the straps nervously, biting her bottom lip.

Reiben laughed loudly with five other soldiers, all smoking heavily with cigars. He glanced over his shoulder at the silent Private for the seventh time and sighed, kid looked so scared, pathetic. He climbed down from the brick wall he was sitting on and strode towards her. He looked over her, noticing her body shaking a little, and her eyes on the ground, her nose just visible under her bent-over helmet. He stopped to stand beside her. He raised his cigar to his lips and took a long, eager drag. He held it out for Vincent, but she shook her head.

The two remained silent for a couple of minutes, Reiben glanced down at Sam every minute or so. He sighed deeply. "Y'know it's alright to be scared." He turned his head towards her; she glanced up at him, brow furrowed. He nodded towards her hands.

Her head snapped to her arms and she tucked her hands in her pockets. "It's alright." Reiben scanned around the masses of soldiers, then back towards Vincent. He scanned her face and bit the inside of his cheek. "I'm scared." He shrugged, Vincent turned to him with wide eyes, Reiben laughed quietly. "Believe it or not." He scoffed, still looking at her head. "Ask anyone here, they might deny being scared, but deep down, everyone is scared." He nodded slowly. "It might feel as if it's a weakness, but it's not. Fear keeps you alive. Just bear that in mind." Vincent stared at Reiben, a warm feeling spreading over her stomach causing her to smile. Reiben slapped her on the back then moved towards Miller, motioning for her to follow.

As they approached the small group that was gathering around Miller, Vincent noticed Poole staring at her intensely, watching her walk, her movements, sizing her up and she instantly became uncomfortable, and took a spot beside Reiben and Wade.

"Okay, as you know we need to make a little detour in our journey to find one Private Ryan to possibly return Poole and Yenick to their former team. We are heading to the village of Saint Cyr, where there are approximately eighty men, some from 101st Airborne Division, some from 1st Ranger Battalion," Sam's chest seized sharply. "there is a range of men, when we get there we will rest, approximately one day's journey. Let's go."

The group got in their diamond formation and set off out of the village, away from the safety of a big group of soldiers. There was a heavy silence amongst all of the soldiers; all that could be heard was the crunch of the grass and the quiet whistle of the wind.

Vincent kept her eyes on the ground, watching as every blade of grass disappeared behind her, swaying silently in the wind. The colour green was really starting to grate Sam's nerves, as it was one of the only colours she saw every day, as well as black, grey, brown and red, no purple, no orange, there was the occasional blue skies but no one really concentrated on the skies, only what's in front of them. Not that it mattered; they were all going to die anyway, whether it be in the fields, in the water, in the street, in the dirt, in a house. Not that her team wouldn't work together, not that they wouldn't fight, they'd all fight to protect one another, even if they hated each other. At least, she hoped they would, she would protect each of them with every ounce of her being, she hoped they would do the same, she hoped Brooklyn might fight for her…

"Vincent?"

Sam lifted her head and mumbled; Jackson was standing beside her, staring down at her.

"You seem a bit out of it, you 'right?"

Sam nodded and smiled "You don't seem 'right. What's on your mind?"

She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably, noticing the recently built up tension. "You'll think I'm stupid."

"I won't ever think that." Jackson smiled softly.

"I was just wondering that when we go into action, if everyone here would… y'know… fight for me? Try to protect me? I would for everyone here, but I just… wondering." She stared up at Jackson, watching as he sighed, and frowned deeply.

"You are our… brother. We're bonded y'know, of course we would do all in our power to save you. Don't ever have such ill feeling again. 'K?" Jackson whispered, squeezing Vincent's arm lightly, she grinned in return.

"Hey guys." Reiben's voice instantly separated the pair. "You got anyone waiting for you at home?"

Jackson smiled. "Got my lil' sister waiting for me, and my ma' and pa'."

"Boring." Reiben yawned. "Vincent?"

Sam gulped and licked her lips. "Uh, y'know, the usual. Mom, dad, brother."

"Yawn. C'mon guys. Anyone interesting?" Reiben threw his hands in the air.

"I got my fiancée Emma waiting for me at home." Yenick grinned. "She's a housewife; she's very good with her hands." Yenick laughed deeply, everyone chuckled in response.

"As soon as I get back, I'm going home to my girl, Louise."

Reiben wolf-whistled, Mellish elbowed Poole's arm. "Tell us about her."

"Gorgeous, Gents." He winked at them. Reiben sighed, Mellish moaned loudly.

Miller's arm bent up and everyone immediately became silent, freezing to their spots.

Miller raised his gun and tensed every single muscle in his body; Jackson flew to the ground and raised his sniper gun to his face. It remained silent for a couple of minutes; everyone was on edge, guns raised in front of them, not breathing.

Upham looked around the surroundings quickly, and licked his lips. Ahead, he noticed a small black smudge amongst the grass. "Captain, isn't that…"

"Contact!" Miller shouted.

Immediately, seven figures rose from the grass, everyone started to shout from both sides. Already, Jackson had two of them down; Upham cowered at the back of the squad, holding his gun in his shaking hands, Mellish laughed maniacally, Miller was shouting orders at the squad whilst firing from his own weapon. Poole, Yenick, Reiben and Horvath were at the front, their faces lighted by the fire of the guns.

Sam looked over her shoulder when she heard loud whimpers, and to Upham who was hyperventilating behind her. "Upham? Get up or get down!" She shouted at him, he led flat on his stomach on the ground, his hands covering his helmet, staring up at Vincent with scared eyes.

She sighed. "Don't worry about…." The wind was taken out of her suddenly; a massive weight forced her backwards, crushing her torso and ribs. A shadow blocked her vision, she tried to move her head, but it was pinned to her pack, her whole body couldn't move, she felt useless. She struggled to breathe, spots clouding her vision, she tried to ask for help, but nothing came out of her mouth, her lips opening and closing like a fish. She closed her eyes, feeling the heavy burden shuffle and press against her face awkwardly. Then suddenly it was lifted, and pink light flew through her eyelids. She spluttered, tearing herself away from her pack and falling to the floor, she held her stomach, and wheezed.

"Ah, sorry Vincent, I... ah… fell." Mellish's voice flooded into her ears.

She frowned angrily and struggled to her feet, still stooped over. "You could have killed me." What she wanted to sound like a shout came out in a silent rasp. She mumbled to herself, cursing Mellish and various other attributes of life.

She looked around her squad and everyone smiled widely, a warm arm came under hers and helped her stand properly, her arm flew over his muscular back, and gripped his right shoulder. Her head snapped to the right of her and Reiben looked down at her.

"It's alright chip, we're nearly there." He mumbled quietly, causing her to blush deep red.

"My pack?" She rasped. Reiben motioned to Wade, who winked at her. "Chip?" She smiled at Reiben.

"Yeah, like, Chipmunk. You're short." He mumbled, looking away from Sam.

She grinned, and was even happier now that they had arrived on the outskirts of the small village, every one of the buildings were ruined, but the lush green fields and greenery around the village were still intact, small brick walls separated the path from the grass. Vincent could see where the pub and post office were, for the big, bright wooden signs hanging at an angle on the ground. It didn't take that long to reach the middle of the village, masses of rubble piled up around every house. Soldiers were dotted everywhere around buildings and streets, injured soldiers were lined up outside a large rectangular chemist.

Miller and the others had already reached the end of the street and were all now conversing with a large group surrounding the chemist.

Above all of the noise, she heard the two voices she had wanted to hear for four years. She stopped moving and gripped onto Reiben tighter. Through the crowd she saw them, she saw her brothers.


	13. The Breakdown

There they were. Jim was leaning against the crumbled wall of the Chemist whilst Frank stood opposite him, a cigar hanging out of his mouth as he spoke with five other soldiers. Jim's hair messily stuck out at odd angles, his deep brown eyes lacked the spark they once had, he had dirt and dust across the right side of his face, making the hollows where his cheek bones stood out looked significantly darker, his sharp jaw tensed as he pursed his lips, the top three buttons of his green jacket were un-done, his black vest poking out oddly, his dog tags hung loosely and rested on the top of his chest, his clothes were messy and dirty, his arms were crossed over his chest, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He crossed one leg over the other as he leant back, his head back, and leaning on the wall. Frank, on the other hand, was well-kept, his uniform was tidy, well-kept, albeit from a few tears and stains. He stood with a straight back, his shoulders tense. His deep green jacket clung to his arms and chest a little tight, suggesting he had bulked up significantly since she had last seen him; Jim had always been the tall, muscular one of the family. Frank still stood a little above the other soldiers around him, although not as tall as Jim. Frank's neck and sharp jaw were tense; he was frowning, causing a little crease to form between his eyebrows. His face held a little dirt, but not as much as his brother's, there were small, dark circles under his light brown eyes, which were dull, glazed over in boredom. His deep brown hair looked as though he just brushed his fingers through, his cheekbones more pronounced than Jim's. Both were pole opposites, Jim the messy one, the one more concentrated on his physical skills, always wanted to be in the forces, Frank the clean freak, the one who was set on academic success, wanted to start his own business, but they both looked a shadow of their funny, relaxed former selves, they were instead swapped with angry, serious men.

Sam fought the urge to run over to them and fling her arms around them; she set herself down on a half-destroyed wall and stared at them, smiling as they blissfully talked amongst themselves.

"Sam!" Poole ran over to her. He pointed to Jim and Frank behind him. "There's Jim, and there's Frank. You coming over?" He glanced back at her, his deep blue eyes staring into hers.

"No, not just yet. Need to rest. I'll come over in a couple of minutes." Sam hung her head and patted her stomach.

Poole nodded and strode over to the little group. Sam watched as Frank grinned, his large smile showing his white teeth, the corners of his eyes crinkled slightly, as he met his strode and hugged him. The two men patted each other's backs and smiled, Jim came over and patted Poole on the back, smiling, his thick lips pulling upwards and apart as he grinned quickly. The three began talking, smiling and laughing. Sam saw a flash of her brothers as they were, happy and care-free, beautiful people. Poole said something, causing both brothers to frown in confusion; Sam craned her neck to look at Poole's face. But Poole turned around, and pointed at her, causing the two to stare at her, squinting to try and see her better.

Shit.

She quickly stood and half-ran around the backs of some faded red cottages, walking deeper into the village and let herself into a small red-bricked house through a large crack in the back wall. She leaned against the nearest wall and slipped down into a sitting position on the floor of a white kitchen. She closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples with her forefinger and thumb.

She couldn't just go up to them. She couldn't look them in the eyes and lie. For as soon as she stared up into those deep chocolate eyes she will crumble and lose herself. She had worked so hard to try not to think about them. But they were always in the back of her mind, always buried so deep within herself that no matter how hard she tried they were always there, always sitting on her shoulders. And before she knew it, she felt her cheeks moisten with tears as she started to shake lightly.

She squeezed her eyes closed, ripping her helmet from her head and hurling it across the room. It landed with a loud thud against the opposite wall. She tried to compose herself, but she couldn't. Her shoulders shook violently as she sobbed, she'd never felt so weak in her life. She brought her knees up and rested her head on them; she could feel her trousers beginning to soak. But she didn't care.

The middle of her chest started to constrict, she choked out her breath. She placed her head in her hands, quickly brushing back the damp dark locks that were covering her face. She must have looked as awful as she felt. She had never felt as alone as she felt now. She could feel the darkness around her, could feel how still the air was. Her chest felt painful as the band around it tightened. Her throat felt like sandpaper as her sobs racked through her body.

And as if someone had heard her, she heard heavy footsteps. But she didn't look up; she didn't want anyone to look at her like this, she immediately felt extremely self-conscious. She faintly heard the scraping of fabric against brick as someone slid down next to her. She didn't realise that she was cold until she felt small waves of heat against her left side. A lean arm snaked around her shoulders and hugged her into a warm body. Her knees rested on his outstretched legs, she hugged his torso, resting her head on his chest. His scent smelled of wheat fields and grass.

"It's okay." A southern accent drawled.

He wrapped his other arm around her body and rested his cheek on the top of her head. He rocked her slightly as she continued to let tears pour down her cheeks and onto his jacket, which was wrapped around her hands as she clung to him. Her mouth was open; though her lips were dry she could still taste the blood on his shirt. Her eyes were still squeezed tightly shut, Jim and Frank in front of her in the dark.

And that is where they stayed for a few hours. Jackson cradling her as she released her anger, her sadness and her frustration onto his jacket. She eventually calmed down enough so that she was no longer sobbing, rather crying silently.

"I am the most horrible human being in the world." Her voice was small and raspy.

"Now why would you say that?" He frowned slightly.

"I ran. I ran away from my family. I destroyed their lives. I changed them. It is my fault that they are here. They should be at home, happy and safe."

"Well you know that ain't true."

"I wish I was dead. Rather than causing them so much pa…"

Jackson pulled her off of him so that she was sitting up straight in front of him. His hands grabbed the top of her arms. He looked at her with such anger that it scared her.

"Now don't you ever say that again. Y'hear. I do not want to hear anything like that again. There are so many people who care about you here." He shook her slightly, his frown deepening. "You are a strong person Sam. Stronger than many of the boys here. For whatever reason you ran away, it is in the past. I ain't gonna lie Sam, but yes, they have changed. Just think of all the things they've seen in this war? I've changed, you've changed, heck even Upham's changed." He laughed a little, she smiled. "Have they changed since you've left? Yes. They are bound to. They lost a sister. But that doesn't mean that they hate you. More than anything they miss you." He stroked the back of her neck. "Give them time. After the war, you all can catch up, talk, hug or whatever you want to do."

"But…"

"No. If you died, it would not only affect your family. But it would affect everyone that you have met. Everyone that you have come into contact with. You are such a beautiful person. Now stop with this nonsense."

She nodded, a few small tears running down her already red face. Jackson's face softened and he moved his hands to her face, wiping away the remaining tears and bringing her face to his. He softly pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I will never let anyone hurt you."

Sam smiled, squeezing his hands with hers. She opened her eyes, not realising how long they had stayed on the floor until she looked around, darkness had enveloped everything, the moonlight only showing their outlines.

"We better get going." She whispered.

Jackson glanced around and nodded, standing up slowly to retrieve her helmet. He crouched in front of her and placed her helmet gently on her head, tucking her hair inside. He helped her up and hugged her tightly once more, before taking her hand in his and walking outside.

It was a ten minute walk back into the centre, spent in silence, apart from the occasional cawing of few birds. As they reached the lit circle, they split apart, Sam's face hidden by the shadow of her helmet. As soon as they walked past the rubble of a cream coloured house, Sam's eyes fell on the figures of her the two most important people in her life.

Frank and Jim were sat closest to a small fire, surrounded by a few other soldiers. They were smiling and laughing, a cigar hanging from Jim's lips. Warmth spread in her stomach as she watched as they both grinned. Her eyes landed on the familiar figure of a certain Brooklyn boy that made her stomach flutter involuntarily. She unconsciously looked from his muscular thighs to his deep chest, to his large shoulders, to his thick neck, to his strong jaw, along his warm face and landed on his hazel eyes. She felt her cheeks warm, and her heart race as his eyes moved from the fire to her. He nodded and smiled, which she returned a little too quickly.

She didn't realise that Poole was sat next to Frank until she felt her brothers' eyes on her. She snapped her head in their direction to discover all three of them staring at her, Jim was rubbing his jaw with his thumb and Frank was frowning slightly.

She shrieked quietly and hurried to a building where the sleeping quarters were. She ran past Miller and Horvath, who were deep in conversation with other officers.

"I'm heading to bed, bye." She spoke quickly.

Miller raised his head slightly only to shake it when she was out of sight.

She ran to the top floor, and to the farthest corner from the stairs, there was already a few people sleeping so she moved silently, lowering herself onto the blankets on the floor and closing her eyes.

The sooner she got out of this place, the better, she thought as she drifted off peacefully.


End file.
